Code of West

Official synopsis: At a time when the world is rethinking its drug policies large and small, one state rises to the forefront of attention. Once a pioneer in legalizing medical marijuana, the state of Montana is poised to become the first in the US to repeal its medical marijuana law. Set against the sweeping vistas of the Rockies, the steamy lamplight of marijuana grow houses, and the bustling halls of the State Capitol, CODE OF THE WEST follows the political process of marijuana policy reform. This is the story of the many lives and fraught emotions when politics fail and communities pay the price.

Director bio: Rebecca Richman Cohen is an Emmy-award nominated filmmaker and lecturer at Harvard Law School. War Don Don (HBO Documentary Films) was her first feature-length film as a director. The film profiles a controversial international war crimes trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Among other awards, War Don Don won the Special Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival and was nominated for two Emmy Awards. In 2010 Rebecca was profiled in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces in Independent Film as an “up-and-comer poised to shape the next generation of independent film.” Before turning full time to film, Rebecca interned as an investigator at the Bronx Defenders and continued to do investigative work at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, working on a legal defense team for Alex Tamba Brima in the AFRC-accused case. Between trips to West Africa, she has been adjunct faculty at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and at American University’s Human Rights Institute. Rebecca graduated from Brown University and Harvard Law School, where she currently teaches.

Trailer